


You fill my lungs with sweetness and you fill my head with you

by Oscarjames



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Merthur - Freeform, Morgwen - Freeform, Period clothing, Victorian ball, and Merlin is a little baby, arthur and Morgana are siblings and they act like it, dance, generally quite sweet and soft, gwen is trying really hard, teaching dance, victorian au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:13:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22971547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oscarjames/pseuds/Oscarjames
Summary: Arthur and Morgana teach Merlin and Gwen (respectively) to dance. They are in love and in relationships. The Pendragon siblings are disaster gays. (For my friend and the tumblr group she’s in who thought of this idea, I hope I did it justice)
Relationships: Gwen/Morgana (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 186





	You fill my lungs with sweetness and you fill my head with you

“No, look, just hold my shoulder. Put your hand...” Arthur moves Merlin’s hand so it is halfway up his torso “here.”

Merlin’s face is one of complete and utter concentration, and he is not graceful whatsoever. His brow is furrowed, his tongue pokes out slightly and all his movements are very rigid. It is incredibly endearing.

“Fuck this.” He says and breaks away from Arthur. “Nothing makes any sense at all, there are different hand movements for different songs and apparently they’re not songs they’re pieces like just because a pretentious wanker wrote them and they’re orchestral doesn’t make them not songs and my feet are expected to move quickly but gracefully as if those two aren’t mutually exclusive and they ache already and we’ve hardly started and, and, through all that I’m supposed to smile. Piss off!” He sinks to the ground.

“Merlin...”

“No, you don’t understand, you’ve spent your whole life doing this, you know every movement without thinking, I’ve never learnt this stuff, but I’m expected to do it, and be good at it, in front of your family and all these people who are important to you. And they all already hate me for obvious reasons.” Tears begin to fall from his eyes and he buries them into his bent knees.

Arthur walks to him and sits beside him, one hand on his shoulder. “Merlin, they may be important, but no one is as important to me as you.” He smiles slightly and hopes Merlin doesn’t hate him for being so unreserved.

He does not, in fact, he looks up at Arthur with a tear stained but happy smile that very clearly says ‘I’ll try, for you, I’ll try’

—

Morgana really does not like seeing Gwen so anxious. She’s very clearly trying her best to perform the actions and movements that Morgana is demonstrating and explaining and though, naturally, as she performs menial, everyday tasks, she is full of grace, here in this room, where she tries to be elegant and rhythmical, it is obvious to any eye, trained or otherwise, that dance is not her forte. 

“I don’t think I can do this. My limbs are used to blacksmith’ry tools, not dance.” She runs her hand through hair.

“No, I’m certain you can, I believe in you.”

“Are you sure?” Her face is full of anxiety.

“Yes, completely and utterly. Let’s try again. Move your feet like mine, hold your hands here, close your eyes and imagine you’re floating. It may be easier that way. At least, that’s what I was taught. Imagine you’re in the clouds, move your feet with the instruments as if they’re the wind.”

—

Merlin’s eyes are closed and Arthur has on hand on his waist and with the other holds his hand. He guides him in time with the music playing from the corner of the room. The two men waltz around in a circle and somehow, Merlin manages to move with grace. Arthur rests his forehead against the one in front of him, closing his eyes too. They continue to waltz until, as they are both blind, they dance right into a chair and collapse into a pile, tangled in laughter.

—

Morgana spins Gwen around as the room fills with her giggles. The music is light and jovial and so are they, as they smile, ignoring the anxiety typical of the afternoon before an event. 

—

Morgana and Arthur stand next to the wall of the ballroom, both awaiting their partners. Morgana is dressed in a dark green ball gown, silk and simple, accentuating her features. Arthur has a black suit and tails with a cravat that matches Morgana’s dress, the two of them look the height of fashion and class, as they should at a ball their father is hosting.

“Do you want to be any more obvious about the fact you hate this?” Morgana asks.

“What? No-I- I’m not, I just-“

“Your eyes are flicking back to the door about once a second Arthur, don’t try and weasel your way out of this, we both know you’re an awful liar.” She puts on a childlike voice “Waiting for Merlin?”

“You’re such a tosser.” He elbows his sister in the side, despite the fact that she is entirely correct, as usual.

“Arthur! That is incredibly uncouth for this sort of setting.”

“Well, maybe-“ He stops, his eyes fixed on the door. Merlin just walked in dressed to the nines. His tails are black and tailored perfectly. His shirt has a ruffled collar. He has a red cravat and his waistcoat, black, is embroidered with thin golden thread. He seems to glow and, for Arthur, the world stops. There’s a slight smile on his face and the blue of his eyes shine in the pale light of the room. He turns to face Arthur and meets his eyes, then gestures to a man holding a tray of wine, presumably saying he’s going to get some. Arthur feels drunk without his lips having touched alcohol.

“What?” Morgana asks her brother before turning to see what he does, although her focus is not on the same place as his. She sees Gwen walk in her hair styled elaborately above her head, a dark purple satin dress, the neckline straight across her shoulders. She wears white gloves and stands delicately and beautifully, looking not at all out of place. Happiness seems to radiate from her, though perhaps that’s the happiness Morgana feels upon seeing her.

The two siblings look at each other, mild panic in both pairs of eyes.

“I’m not going to survive this evening without fainting.” Arthur says

“Nor me.”

Merlin and Gwen walk over, holding glasses of wine. Merlin places his down on the table next to Arthur, holds out his hand and says “May I have this dance?” With a smirk.  
  


Arthur laughs, takes his boyfriend’s hand and they move closer to the centre of the room together, in time with the music. Morgana stand to the side for a few minutes holding hands before also moving to dance slowly together as well.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? It certainly isn’t amazing and I’ve only just started writing fanfiction so any feedback is welcome.


End file.
